Julie Andrews says that her four-octave voice is not coming back after botched surgery
12/7/2012NEW YORK — It may take a big spoonful of sugar to make this go down: Julie Andrews says that her four-octave voice is not coming back.
The Oscar and Tony Award-winning actress said in a recent interview that a botched operation to remove non-cancerous throat nodules in 1997 hasn’t gotten better. It has permanently limited her range and her ability to hold notes.
“The operation that I had left me without a voice and without a certain piece of my vocal cords,” said Andrews, who starred in such quintessential stage and film musicals as The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, and Mary Poppins.
The actress says she can still speak “pretty well” and can still hit a few bass notes, “So if you wanted a rendition of ‘Old Man River’ you might get it, but I’m not singing as much these days.”
Andrews has sung publicly several times since then including a performance in the 2004 film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement and in a 2010 London concert, but called those “speak-singing.”
The 77-year old, however, says she has rediscovered her voice in her books and in directing theater.
Her latest children’s book, Little Bo in London: The Ultimate Adventure of Bonnie Boadicea has just been released by Harper Collins.